Containers, particularly bottles and tins, are used to contain a variety of liquids, for example liquids fit for human consumption such as beverages, or liquids such as chemical compounds, which are applicable in various industrial, domestic, and laboratory settings.
When a liquid is poured out of the bottle a residual amount of liquid tends to collect on the outside of the bottle neck and it can then run down the bottle and make contact with a surface upon which the bottle rests. This is a common problem and can result in either the surface or a user who makes contact with the bottle neck coming into direct contact with the liquid. Such direct contact can cause the user or the surface on which the bottle rests to become exposed either to hazardous or potentially hazardous chemicals, where the bottle contains chemicals, or to wine or other beverages which can cause the users' hands or the surface upon which the bottle rests to become stained or sticky.
A number of devices have been developed to address the collection of and subsequent contact with residual liquids, for example the so-called drip-less pouring insert or drip stop and the drip prevention apparatus. The drip-less pouring insert comprises an insert which is wedged into a neck region of the bottle so that the insert is located within the neck of the bottle and protrudes from the bottle thereby forming a channel through which the liquid to be dispensed is poured. The drip prevention apparatus, which is similar to the drip-less pouring insert in that they both function to reduce dripping, is an attachment which is placed over the neck region of the bottle and attached thereto thereby facilitating the pouring of the liquid through an orifice in the apparatus so as to minimise residual liquid collection on the outside of the container. Due to the design of the drip prevention apparatus, each type of bottle must have a custom made drip prevention apparatus which is not preferable when a manufacturer is manufacturing a wide range of different bottle products. The problem with both the drip-less pouring insert and the drip prevention apparatus is that they tend to accumulate liquid residue. Unless they are washed after every use this accumulation of liquid residue may serve as a breeding ground for microorganisms. Hence repeated use, without washing causes these devices to become unhygienic. Furthermore, the drip less pouring insert is assembled by rolling a metal sheet into a pipe shape prior to inserting it into the bottle and as such it comes into contact with the user's hands, which is also unhygienic.
The contact between the liquid being dispensed from the container and the drip-less pouring insert or the drip prevention apparatus may be undesirable in certain applications. For example, wine drinkers may not want, for reasons of either wine drinking tradition or perceived taste reasons, a wine to make contact with an insert or apparatus before it is imbibed.
The primary purposes of both of these devices is to reduce dripping and not to prevent droplet formation and as such there may still be a buildup of droplets of either wine or a hazardous chemical and it is foreseeable that the user could still become exposed to these droplets, especially when the user removes the device from the bottle. Furthermore, since these devices are not designed to restrain liquid droplets that have formed, by whatever means, on the outside of a bottle, it is foreseeable that the users' hands or the surface upon which the bottle rests could become exposed to droplets.
The integrated drip proof stopper system, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,128,243, is also known. This is a complex system comprising a ring which is slid into a bottle cap during the bottle manufacturing process. This system must be added during the manufacturing process and cannot be added by suppliers, wholesalers or users, furthermore, each type of bottle must have a custom made drip proof stopper which is not preferable when a manufacturer is manufacturing a wide range of different bottle products. To access the integrated drip proof stopper, the bottle cap must be opened and the integrated drip proof stopper slid away from the cap onto a neck region of the bottle. Due to the fact that the integrated drip proof stopper is not attached directly to the bottle but merely slidably located within the bottle cap it is possible that such stoppers may become damaged during the bottle capping process. Furthermore, the integrated drip proof stopper has a shrink wrap shell which must be opened by the user and the user must ensure an absorbent pad, located under the shrink wrap shell, is exposed so that the pad can receive any residual liquid. The shrink wrap shell may become torn either when the integrated drip proof stopper is slid away from the bottle cap or when the shrink wrap shell is opened to expose the absorbent pad. The efficacy of the system also depends on the user ensuring that the absorbent pad is correctly and fully exposed before the liquid is poured from the container.
Drip-stop rings are devices, particularly metal ring devices, which have integrated absorbent pads and that are secured to the neck region of a bottle, in particular wine bottles, to reduce the seeping of liquid down the bottle. These devices are characterised by having a rigid, non-flexible outer part, usually made of metal, which pushes the absorbent pads against the neck region of the bottle. The outer part may be a single, solid ring, in which case the ring is placed over the neck of the bottle and pushes the absorbent material against the neck of the bottle. A problem with these solid ring devices is that they tend to weakly push the absorbent pads onto the bottle, which is undesirable, and because they are simply placed over the neck of the bottle, as opposed to being clamped, they tend to move with a resultant reduction in pressure on the absorbent pads when the bottle is titled, such as when pouring liquid out of the bottle. In an alternative design, the drip-stop ring has a hinge mechanism that allows two rigid, non-flexible half-circles to be brought together to form a rigid circular structure around the bottle neck and thus push the absorbent material against the bottle. The hinge increases the complexity of the device.
Due to the non-flexible, rigid nature and the fixed diameter of the outer clamping part, drip-stop rings have to be manufactured for specific bottles, which is not preferable when a manufacturer is manufacturing a wide range of different bottle products or when it is desirable to fit the device to a wide range of different bottle products. Another problem with drip-stop rings is that these devices and in particular the absorbent pads tend to accumulate liquid residue. Unless they are replaced after every use this accumulation of liquid residue may make the devices unsightly and may serve as a breeding ground for microorganisms and cause these devices to become unhygienic.
Finally, the known devices are generally manufactured from metal, or wood or a plastics material and are generally shaped so as to fit a particular bottle design and a particular portion of the bottle, in particular the neck of the bottle. The materials used in the manufacture of such devices are generally expensive and hence such devices are normally intended to be reusable devices, which as shown above can lead to hygiene problems if the devices are not regularly washed. Furthermore, the design of these devices does not facilitate the easy attachment of indicia, such as, advertisements or product warnings, thereto and are therefore not used for this purpose.